Spark Untold
by Dana Kishimoto
Summary: A story of a girl who against all odds must survive despite the thorns in her path. Will Madge be able to live to tell her side of the story?


**Chapter 1**

Load. Aim. Fire. These were the final things I witnessed before our television went black and flashed the Capitol's logo for a few seconds until my father turned it off. I stared at the frightened faces of my parents before I can register into my mind what just happened. My best friend, Katniss, just defied the Capitol. What would that mean for her? For the people of District 12? I found myself stuck to auburn couch in our living room, unmoving and scared. My mother paced around the room in a frantic manner while my father was rummaging through the drawers searching for something while he told me and my mother to calm down. The air around the room was so tense it was almost suffocating. The silence was shattered when my father retrieved something from the drawers and hurriedly walked over to me.

"I had hoped this day would never come but the worst has yet come" he paused "take this Madge and I hope you never have to use it"

My father handed me a velvet pouch of considerable size, as I held it in my hands and felt a thin box concealed inside. I slowly took the box out and examined it. It was black and at the bottom right hand side, there was my name written in an elegant, silver lettering. "Open it!" my mother choked "there isn't much time" I did as I was told and lifted the lid. My fingers froze and my heart began to beat faster, not from the excitement of receiving a present but from the fear of what I have to use this against.

It was a dazzling silver dagger with a hilt as black as coal. I stared at my parents in disbelief and wondered what made them give this to me. I wanted to say something… anything but no words came to mind as words were replaced with tears that trickled down my face. My mother gasped and said something inaudible to me as she rushed to the kitchen and came back out with a backpack.

"Here take these" she said in a rushed manner "it has food, water and other things you might need" Need? Need for what?

Suddenly there was a painful jolt in my stomach "What's going on here? What about you two?"

Before they could answer I could feel it under my feet. There was rumbling like an earthquake but I knew this wasn't natural. My parents gave me a reassuring smile and hugged me "we'll be just fine Madge" they both kissed my forehead and told me to hurry out the back door. They practically pushed me out; their faces were filled with grief "Go!" they yelled "Run as fast as you can and get out of District 12! We'll try to catch up with you"

Their voices were filled with seriousness and worry that I couldn't help but hug them as I sobbed "Promise me you'll be ok…" I whispered. They nodded and hugged back tightly "Yes…" my father said "we'll have to save a many citizens as possible" My father truly loved this district to pieces and as mayor he's going to try to save what can be spared from this coal covered land.

I smiled at them and stuffed the velvet pouch in the backpack and sprinted away from the place I called home, looking back at my parents who were already scrambling to the surrounding houses in the area.

As I was running I wasn't sure from what or to where, I stepped into the area which used to be Katniss' old place, the Seam. There it hit my senses, the further I ran the more blood I saw, the smell of rotting flesh more prominent and the screams of pain and terror rang clear. Suddenly, there was this heat, this unbearable heat I've never felt before. It was so intense the explosion so loud that I might have gone deaf. The force was so strong it propelled me forward, knocking me to the ground covered with glass shards. I tried to get back up as quickly as I could and my eyes widened as I looked at my hands that were covered with shards and coated with blood. I knew I didn't have time to complain so I shook some of the glass off my palms and kept on running.

Left and right I could see bodies crumbling to the ground. It was a horrendous sight but I had to keep moving. I forced myself to turn a blind eye and dodge all these injured people begging for help it was terrible. Then I realized something; I had no idea where I was headed. I sure hope I wasn't running towards a dead end. Amidst the explosions, just like an answered prayer, I heard a familiar voice barking orders at the crowds. I figured it would be the only chance I had to live so I followed the screams until I bumped into the owner. It was Gale. He was directing the people through the broken down fences which served as the district borders. I ran towards him, wanting to ask something, anything to lessen the confusion stirring inside of me but now was certainly not the time for questions. I couldn't stop running and unwillingly bumped into Gale. He turned and glared at me like a raged animal ready for the kill.

"Go on! Get out of here" he spat "Do you want to die?"

The harshness in his words compelled me to get away from him so I ran again. This time following the people through the fallen fences "Go! Into the woods!" I heard Gale one last time before I disappeared into the crowd.

We ran for the woods and hid ourselves among clumps of trees hoping that the Capitol hovercrafts won't notice us and bombard us to death. A few minutes later I heard Gale again telling them to go deeper into the woods. As we trudged along the trail, I remember passing by here during one of Katniss' hunting lessons. Then the thought hit me, what were they going to do to Katniss? To the other tributes? To us survivors? My head hurt just thinking about it.

In the distance I could hear Gale telling everyone that we've gone far enough and that we should rest for a while. For a while? Then what? Judging from the black smoke rising from what used to be District 12 there isn't much to go back to. Where would we go now? How are we going to survive? Even if Gale and everyone able would go hunting there still wouldn't be enough to feed the hundreds of people who managed to escape.

I surveyed the people around me as I sat under the shade of a tree. There were wounded people everywhere and it was just pure chaos. I then stared at my own bloody hands and now that the adrenaline has worn off I was beginning to feel the sting of the torn flesh. I pulled out the last of the glass but it still hurt just then I noticed someone approach me. It was Prim.

"Let me check your hands" she said in a voice of confidence that I would never expect from a girl her age. I nodded and she began disinfecting and bandaging my cut up hands.

Katniss' mother and sister… I've always admired how they helped people back in the district. They always looked so calm despite the things that they see. I could tell both of them were exhausted already from all the running, helping, from the grief. They must be going through so much right now but despite that they still found the strength to help others.

When Prim finished she was about to run off to help the others until I stopped her. "Is there any way I can help?" she smiled and handed me a few bandages, a towel and a bottle of disinfectant and told me to treat those with minor injuries.

I ran around helping as many people as I can. Of course I couldn't help those with injuries that are too much for someone as unskilled as I was but I was determined to make myself useful. After a while I started wondering about what happened to my parents. I started asking around if anyone had seen them but the people I asked were either too scared to remember or too dazed to answer. The more people I asked, the more hopeless I got. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes but I couldn't show my tears now, as the mayor's daughter I had to be brave. I tried to hold it back but I just couldn't do it. I then ran away to distance myself from the group. After getting far enough I slammed my back onto the rough tree bark, the backpack I had cushioned the impact, as I sat down covering my eyes with my palms as I cried so hard it hurt. I've never felt so vulnerable in my life. I lost everything today my best friend, my home and my family… could this day get any worse?

I don't know how long it's been already. A few minutes? A few hours? I just couldn't tell. I shifted my legs until I was hugging them and crying against the fabric of my pants. After a while I could hear footsteps coming towards me and I don't care if it's Gale, the Peacekeepers or President Snow himself. I'm planning to cry my eyes out and nobody's going to stop me. I then felt an arm on my shoulder. It felt small and delicate and got me curious to know who it was. Slowly, I lifted my head and faced a young girl probably around twelve years old with short black hair and she was covered with soot from head to toe.

"Are you ok?" she cautiously whispered like she knew she just asked a rhetorical question.

I wiped the last of my tears and stood up "I'm fine" I sniffed "don't worry"

"You're not very good at lying" she told me bluntly. I giggled and took out the small, unused towel I got from Prim "let's get you cleaned up shall we?" and she nodded in response.

As I was wiping her face I asked her what her name was. She smiled and answered "My name's Juniper. Juniper Overwhill. What's yours?" I looked at her and told her my name "You're the mayor's daughter right?" I kept silent and when Juniper asked me where my father was I had the urge to fight back tears "He's… not here anymore" I whispered. I finished cleaning her face and saw a frowning pale face staring at me in an empathetic way then before I knew it a tear fell down her cheek and she gave me a tight embrace "Don't worry it'll be alright. I lost my mother in the attack too it's hard to accept but we have to keep moving forward and look out for each other right?"

How could I have been so stupid? I wasn't the only one who lost someone important to me. There are probably kids, younger kids that have lost their parents and are scared to death. I hugged Juniper back and smiled at her "let's go back… people need our help"

The second we came back we approached Katniss' mother and asked her if there was anything we could do for her. She picked up a book from the medical kit she had and showed me a page with a picture of a herb on it with small heart shaped leaves. She told me she was almost out of supplies and she needed this ingredient. She said I could easily find this herb near a body of water then she pointed eastward and told me there should be a small lake near there. It took a while before could convince Juniper to stay behind and help out here. I didn't want to endanger her because I knew wild animals lived near where we were. When she finally agreed I took off.

A few steps into the dark woods alone and I was already starting to shake in my shoes but nevertheless I kept my composure and continued walking. It's not I'm here to hunt for something to eat, all I'm be doing is herb gathering and I don't think Katniss' mother will allow anyone to go here alone if she knew this area would be dangerous so I should have nothing to worry about… right? Even so, this place is still creepy and it had me reaching for my dagger every few minutes. Nerve wracking as it was I had to keep going. I tried to listen to any signs of danger but it was so silent I couldn't even hear my own footsteps which was probably a good thing.

It took me a while but I finally reached the lake. It could've been beautiful, the water was sprinkled with ash, fallen branches and some sort of metal debris. The Peacekeepers paid a little visit to this side of the woods no doubt.

I crouched down near the water's edge and right off the bat I found the herbs swaying slightly in the wind and being splashed on by the lake water. I gathered a handful of the greens and I carefully put the herbs in the empty front pocket of my backpack.

It was so strange just being there I couldn't quite explain it myself. It didn't take all the hurt away but the ambience soothed me. I sat down cross-legged on the grass closed my eyes and listened to the soft rustling of the tree leaves and the gentle splash of water against the ground. It was like this place was blessed and was made to wash away problems. If only I had time I would stay here for a few more minutes. Unfortunately, I had herbs to deliver and injured people that needed helping. Darn it! I completely forgot about them! Whoever needed them must still be in pain. I jumped up and slung he backpack behind me. I ran back the way I came in swatting away tree branches as I did. Concealing my footsteps wasn't a priority anymore and I could only hope there were no predators nearby.

As I was sprinting through the expanse of trees I heard a sound. It wasn't an animal it was more mechanical and it was if it was flying over me. I craned my head upward and gasped as I saw them, hovercrafts. It could only be from the Capitol! Where else would they have come from? I ducked under the bushes but I still kept on moving.

When I reached the clearing I stopped and almost shrieked in horror. Where was everyone? I looked up and saw the last (I hoped) hovercraft levitating at least 30 meters from the ground. It was hard to tell from where I was but I saw two people dressed in some kind of uniform trying to drag someone to the ladders connected to the hovercraft. It was Gale… and he was screaming my name.

"Madge!" he yelled "Madge, where are you?"

I stayed rooted to my spot; my heart started pounding hard again and I didn't know whether to I should stay hidden or charge out there knowing I might be captured too. '_I've got to do something_' I thought. I slowly opened my bag to arm myself with the dagger when suddenly Gale said something that caught my attention.

"Madge! These people are here to help us" I couldn't believe what I was hearing "These people are from district Thirteen! If you're out there then hurry and get over here!" that was the last thing I heard him say before one of the men knocked him out with a neck chop and dragged him towards the ladders yelling "You idiot! There's not enough time get in!"

My mind could barely process what was going on until Gale's words rang through my head.

"_These people are here to help us"_

That was when I stood up took off to the direction of the hovercraft which already flew away. They were getting farther and farther away it would be impossible to catch up now. I screamed as loud as I could but they were too far away to hear me now. I didn't know why I kept running; I could barely see it anymore. I would keep running but to what? I had nothing left to run to. I started to aimlessly walk forward until my right foot snagged against a tree root and I tumbled head first to the hard, unforgiving dirt. No glass at least.

I was all alone now without a single companion in the world. I didn't get up, I didn't bother. I just lay there not sure what I was feeling at the moment. Anger? Loneliness? Stupidity? I didn't know but what I was sure of was that it hurt… a lot. I clenched my fist so hard my knuckles turned white. After noticing a rabbit zip past me I sat back up wiping the tears that were barely there and took a deep breath.

So many people died today and I was one of the lucky ones who survived and I would be mocking those who passed on if I decided to die here. I looked up at the blue sky above and thought to myself that there was only one place to go now.

District Thirteen

A/N: And so Madge's journey begins! I didn't think I would actually finish this chapter truth be told. OK! My laziness aside I would like to dedicate this to the person who always nagged me (ok maybe _reminded_ would be a better word) to write and publish this story you know who you are and thanks a lot for the support you gave me! Good luck with school you! Anyway I hoped you guys liked it until next time.

Dana-chan out~!


End file.
